I know we're not in February yet, but I thought some of you out there would want a bit of inspiration for your nails as the Valentine's Day is coming up. After all, it's the perfect excuse to have cute, girly and possibly very pink nails. I came up with few designs I really liked, and they are all different in sense of techniques, difficulty and so on, so I'm hoping there's something for everyone.

A while back Amaranthe opened their Europe-wide merch store, and naturally I had to go and place an order. The thing was though, that the shirt I wanted only had men's XL sizes left then. But, as I have my crafting background, I figured I could buy the tee and just craft it into something that fits. And I feel it makes a cool little blog post as well.

Today we're continuing with the series called Copy That Look. This is a series where I copy looks for less, which is not an original concept by any means, but the way I've visioned this is that I choose a look I like by a celebrity, influencer or basically anyone who has an inspiring style, and try to recreate the look by thrifting my own closet, DIYing, thrift shopping, borrowing or mixing the four. But buying anything new solely for this is not allowed. I want to keep this reasonably sustainable, and also I don't want to end up with items I don't use after the post. I will choose some of the looks myself, and some will be chosen by friends who are more or less metalheads as well, so that we will keep this rock chic and/or metal.

And yes, I will have this intro for at least few first times I post to this series, so that the ones jumping on little later on can get the hang of this as well.

Few days' break from blogging and outfit instagramming because I wasn't feeling like myself. I'm still a bit fluish, but getting better by the hour. Although, that's not the only thing going wrong this week, today my car wouldn't start because it's so cold and I think the battery doesn't love it's life. But hey, nowhere but up from here. Right?

Okay, that's how my week has started which feels, dare I say, messy. But at least our walk-in closet isn't that anymore! Which is what I quickly want to talk about today.

As promised, we're getting into the third style series now. In case someone is wondering why three running at the same time, the answer is to keep it interesting, but also because I will need to hunt for some of the items/DIY a little, and some of the looks I have in mind don't fit the current season, so this way I feel it's easier for me.

This series is called Thrifting The Trends, and in this one I will choose a theme seen on SS19 runways in each post, and will create a practical look for a small budget. Like in my other series, I will not buy brand new things, but rather thrift, shop my closet and DIY. Again the goal is to show that many of you probably have something in your closet already that you can wear to be trendy - if that's what you like. I'm not the one to go for trends that much, I rather just pick items I think suit my style without really caring if they're in trend or not. However, I guess many of you out there might want to try the new trends while maybe saving up and/or being somewhat sustainable, so I feel that series might benefit you.

The references for the colors and trends in this series are the Vogue article on SS19 trends (click!) and Pantone SS19 color trend report (click!). I went through those both and picked my favorite things from the Vogue piece to work into this series. (I did rule out the statement headpieces and wetsuit surfer style as I can't see myself wearing those in any occasion, other trends I'm at least considering or recreating!) So now, without any further ado, let's get into the first look.

Welcome to the second of the new series on my blog, called Copy That Look. This is a series where I copy looks for less, which is not an original concept by any means, but the way I've visioned this is that I choose a look I like by a celebrity, influencer or basically anyone who has an inspiring style, and try to recreate the look by thrifting my own closet, DIYing, thrift shopping, borrowing or mixing the four. But buying anything new solely for this is not allowed. I want to keep this reasonably sustainable, and also I don't want to end up with items I don't use after the post. I will choose some of the looks myself, and some will be chosen by friends who are more or less metalheads as well, so that we will keep this rock chic and/or metal.

During last week, I created two sets of marble nails - mostly to practice my skills more, but also to see what would be my go-to technique in the future, when I want to get a set of marble on my nails.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might know I got some Jeffree Star goodies from my boyfriend. I don't know how I deserved these after the Body Shop Calendar but apparently someone wants to absolutely spoil me. I will talk about them all in this post, but my main focus will be on the Alien Palette, since I'm sure that's what interests most of you the most.

This year, I'm going back to my blogging roots a bit, because what made me start blogging originally was wanting to share my outfits and some thoughts along them. And, one of the blogs I used to love a ton back in the day was J's Everyday Fashion. She was one of the first ones I followed, and I feel like the collages she did with different looks with one item way back when were a thing that inspired me to start blogging as well. (Click here for an example!)

What I'm trying to accomplish with this series is mostly personal. I'm encouraging myself to play with my items more and show myself I actually need so much less than I still have. This series should spark my styling creativity, and inspire me to declutter the closet even more so that I wouldn't have too many doubles of things. For you, I hope this series tells that sometimes the place to shop is actually your own closet, and that even though media tells you that you need to buy the latest trends and all the new clothes to be happy and look good, that's really not the case.

I will probably say this in few different posts at the beginning of this year, but don't mind me repeating myself… This year, I decided to take a step back and instead of maybe doing what's popular and all, I'm going somewhat back to the roots of this blog with my content. With the same time trying to keep the ideas fresh enough for it to not look like it was just dragged from 2012 or so. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I don't think that would be exciting for the most people.

So, the roots. If you've ever wondered the long name of the blog and why I've been stuck with it instead of just having my name there or something cool and short, here's why. To me, Handmade Dreams of Mine is a bit layered thing. On one hand (pun totally intented) it means "life is what you make of it", and that the dreams you have are yours to realize, and no one else's. But on the other hand, if refers to my nature of loving to do things myself, whether it's painting, drawing, knitting, sewing, baking or whatever. And both sides are something I've let go too much in the past couple of years.

Meaning that this year, we're doing more DIYs and such, and also trying to make some dreams come true. But being realistic, let's start with the DIYs.

I wore these nails for New Year's, and were planning on sharing these on New Year's Eve, but after all ended up taking the days off and spending time with my boyfriend instead. Which was actually good for me and my mental energy. And since these aren't too themed, now is as good time as ever to share them.

New year, not so new me. But, a new bucket list. In this year's list, there are same things as in last year's one, since not everything became a reality. And also, some were so much fun I just had to include them again. Some of the things on the list are things I know will happen during this year, and some need a little work to come true. And actually, while you're reading this, I recommend playing the song "True"by Amaranthe in the background, because that song more or less reflects the mood of this post.

"This is the time for chasing my desires, what's in my heart is true."